ABSTRACT
We can feel some comfort that recent statistics indicate that the concerted
effort to halt the trend of increasing asthma mortality and morbidity has
been successful (1). However, as indicated in our opening chapter by
Dr. David Stempel, there is still considerable room for improvement. An effort must now be made to achieve a decline in morbidity and mortality.
This may be possible by developing a system to recognize patients at risk
for persistent asthma and to intervene early, as indicated in Dr. Søren
Pedersen’s chapter on early intervention. This summary will highlight the
This chapter supported in part by Public Health Services Research Grants 1NO1HR-16048, HL36577, HL51834, General Clinical Research Center Grant 5 MO1 RR00051 from the Division of Research Resources, and the NICHHD Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit Network Grant 1-U01-HD37237.
